Atisin Suebsaiaun

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology 

Ladkrabang (KMITL) Bangkok, 

Thailand 

55671171@kmitl.ac.th

Thai home improvement retailer customer loyalty: A SEM analysis

Thepparat Pimolsathean

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology 

Ladkrabang (KMITL) Bangkok, 

Thailand 

thepparat@hotmail.com

Abstract. The contest between ‘bricks versus clicks’, with the disruptive effect of e-commerce on traditional retail formats, is starting to be felt in Thailand. Specifically, home improvement retailers are therefore having to adapt, by creating unique online shopping experiences, which is enhanced by sophisticated electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) systems designed to capture and retain a digitally savvy Thai consumer. Seeing the critical nature if the eCRM process, the researchers undertook an analysis of the opinions of 465 consumers who shopped at one of the five top Thai home improvement retailer stores. Using LISREL 9.10 software to examine the nine hypotheses structural equation model (SEM), it was determined that all the causal factors in the model have a positive influence on customer loyalty, which can be explained by 73% of the variance in Thai home improvement retailer customer loyalty (R2). The causal variables influencing customer loyalty ranked from highest to lowest, were SERVQUAL, customer satisfaction, corporate social responsibility, and eCRM, with a total value of the influence at 0.57, 0.38, 0.29 and 0.29, respectively. Additionally, the study revealed that extreme caution was needed when social media platforms are used in marketing, as overwhelming consumers with poorly targeted, ‘spray and pray’ style marketing campaigns can generate disenfranchised consumers who unsubscribe from the marketer’s channel.

Received: July, 2018

1st Revision: August, 2018

Accepted: November, 2018

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2018/11-4/9

JEL Classification: 8, L81, L84, L85, L86, M3

Keywords: corporate social responsibility (CSR), customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, electronic customer relationship management (eCRM), SERVQUAL, Thai, SEM